


What's a Nice Mormon Boy Doing in a Dream Like this?

by SorchaR



Category: Inception (2010), Latter Days (2003)
Genre: Arthur really looks good in leather, Crossover, Eames is more sensitive than he lets on, Family Issues, M/M, religious issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-26
Updated: 2012-02-26
Packaged: 2017-10-31 18:23:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/347063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SorchaR/pseuds/SorchaR
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Paul Ryder has his worldview turned upside down when Aaron, his devout fellow Mormon missionary, turns out to be gay. Paul walks away from his mission, his family, and everything he knows when he realizes that maybe he's not completely straight, either. He meets Dominic and Mallorie Cobb and becomes an assassin, international fugitive, and expert in theft of secrets via dreams. He also meets the love of his life/bane of his existence in the person of fellow fugitive, master thief, and forger Daniel Eames.</p>
<p>TL;DR How Arthur was born.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What's a Nice Mormon Boy Doing in a Dream Like this?

Despite Dom's intention to retire, he ends up accepting jobs around twice a year, safe jobs that don't take him far from the kids. When he does, he calls on Eames, on Arthur and Yusuf, and on Ariadne when she's not tied up with school. As much as they all grumble about hauling themselves to the States, they all go.

This time, they're performing an extraction on a wealthy retired industrialist in Arizona, trying to find out the contents of his will for his ungrateful children. They're in a rented office space in Flagstaff, and Eames has been singing "Route 66" under his breath off and on all week, causing Arthur to throw things at him. Of course, Arthur's been twitchy ever since they all got here, and when Eames asks why, Arthur just beans him with a box of Kleenex.

At the end of the first week, Eames walks into the office at around eight to find Arthur, Cobb and Ariadne hard at work, and Yusuf playing something medieval-looking on the xBox. Eames has got the morning paper with him, and he tosses it down in front of Arthur. "Sorry it's late," he says, though he's not really. Arthur gets grumpy when he can't read the financial pages first thing, and Eames likes watching him be grumpy - especially when he can make Arthur stop being grumpy later, in private.

"It's late because _you're_ late," Arthur gripes, but he flips the paper open anyway. Eames goes to Ariadne to look over the level she's designing, and soon he and Cobb are immersed in discussion over whether to have an emergency escape route through the sewer system or to chance being without.

"I don't work without an emergency escape route," Eames insists.

"Couldn't we have something rooftop-based?" Dom asks desperately.

"We're in Flagstaff, Dom, not New York. Rooftops would do us no good whatsoever." Eames gestures out at the street two stories below. "It's sewers or nothing."

"But the smell - "

Dom's protest is cut off by Arthur cursing and shoving back his chair hard enough to gouge a tear in the cheap carpet. He crumples the page he's reading and tosses it to the floor, then storms out of the room before anyone can ask what's wrong.

"Well, there goes the security deposit," Yusuf says.

Dom gets up and crosses over to where Arthur was sitting, picks up the crumpled page and smooths it out on the table, tracing his finger down the page as he reads. It's the obituaries, and he stops at one. "Fuck," he says, and goes after Arthur.

Eames and Ariadne share a confused glance, and Eames reads aloud from the entry. "Dallin Ryder, born April 3, 1954, returned to Heavenly Father May 30, 2011 after a long illness. Survived by his wife JoDonna and daughters Jodal and Linna, preceded in death by his son Paul." He frowns, then glances at Ariadne. "Why would - "

And just like that, he gets it. He gets up to follow Arthur just as Dom comes back in. "He went back to his hotel," Dom says. "He wants to be alone, but that won't stop you, will it?"

"Damn right," Eames says cheerfully. Arthur's hotel is only a few blocks away; as always, they're all staying in separate hotels, and this time Arthur won the draw for the one closest to their base of operations.

Just because he's staying in a different hotel, though, doesn't mean Eames isn't already familiar with the way to Arthur's room. Arthur's eyes are still red when he opens the door, his tie off and his cuffs undone. He looks at Eames wordlessly for a moment, then pulls him into the room by his shirtfront to kiss him hard.

*****

"So, you're Mormon, then?" Eames asks afterward, when they're lying in bed and he's tracing his name across Arthur's stomach.

"Technically, ex-Mormon, but yeah." Arthur's got his arm flung over his eyes and he peers over at Eames. "I know, it's a shock."

Eames laughs and moves Arthur's arm so that he can see his lovely face. "Darling, I learned long ago not to be shocked by anything I learn about you. Now, the idea that Mormons don't all live in Utah - that's a bit of a surprise."

Arthur smacks Eames's chest, but he laughs. "Don't be a dumbass. Utah got all filled up so we had to branch out."

He's silent for a bit, and finally Eames strokes his hair. "Want to talk about it?" He keeps his tone light, making sure that Arthur knows he's trying not to push.

"Not really," Arthur replies, then he sighs. "Yeah. Yeah, I do. You sure you wanna hear about it?"

"Wouldn't have asked if I didn't."

"Yeah, you're not big on politeness." Arthur rolls onto his side so they're face to face. "When I was nineteen, I got sent to LA for my missionary service, and my partner was this guy from Idaho. He was...God, he was unreal. Most of us were just sort of doing our time, but Aaron really believed. He cared enough about it to think and ask questions, not just go through the motions."

He sits up to fluff his pillow, then settles back down. "The place where we were living, there was this guy next door. He was the total fucking stereotype of the gay party boy, right? And I was this narrow-minded little prick who didn't want to even think about the fact that I could be anything but straight." He laughs. "We were in this guy's apartment and I said something snotty about God hating homos. The guy - his name was Christian, ironically enough - was about to hit me or something, and then Aaron said, 'And the French. Everybody hates the French.'" He snickers. "Confused the hell out of me, but it calmed everyone down."

Eames laughs softly, and Arthur continues. "Anyway, so the next thing I knew, Aaron and Christian had this, this _thing_ , and Aaron got sent home in disgrace. I was a total dick about it, until Christian came looking for him. He was so upset, and I realized that they really - they really loved each other. So, I told Christian how to find Aaron, and I thought that was the end of it."

"But?" Eames asks gently. This is not only most Arthur has ever revealed about himself, it's actually true. It's like holding a bubble and doing his best not to let it burst.

"But...I realized after a bit that the reason I was being a dick was because I was scared. And that made me think about the future. Finish my missionary service, go home, get married in the temple, have kids...now _that_ really did scare the hell out of me. I knew if I had to live that way, I'd die inside."

He sits up and swings his legs over the side of the bed. "I need a drink," he says. He grabs a tiny bottle from the honor bar and opens it, not bothering with a glass. "So I walked away. Got disowned, disfellowshipped, the whole bit. Didn't get excommunicated, but I was cut off in all the ways that mattered. I was working in a little cafe in Sacramento, trying to figure out what the hell I was going to do with myself, when I met Dom and Mal. And you pretty much know the rest, at least, the interesting stuff." 

He's leaning on the dresser, his back to the bed, and Eames gets up and goes to him, wrapping his arms around his waist and kissing his shoulder. "No wonder you've been jumpy all week."

"Yeah." Arthur leans back against him with a little sigh. "The thing is, Dan...he was my dad. He didn't want things to end the way they did, but he didn't think there was any other choice. He still loved me. My family still loves me, and I still love them. But I can't go to his funeral. I can't be there for my mom and my sisters like I should. Makes me feel about three inches tall."

Eames turns him around and kisses him gently. "Do you want to leave? It's a small job, we can probably scrape by without you."

"No, I'm okay. I just need a little time to get my shit together."

"I can help with that." Eames guides him back to bed and pulls the covers over them both. "So, I have to ask. Is that why your choice of dainty underthings is always t-shirt and boxers? Reminiscent of the - what is it, the garment?"

Arthur elbows him. "Asshole. Like I ever keep them on long enough for you to notice." He pauses, and his glare softens. "But hey...thanks for not calling it 'the magic underwear.'"

Eames presses closer and nibbles on his neck. "Didn't you know, pet?" he murmurs into Arthur's ear. "All of your underwear is magic."

*****

Usually, when a job's finished, they all go their separate ways to avoid suspicion. This time, though, when Eames leaves his hotel, Arthur is leaning against the side of a rented convertible, wearing that leather jacket that makes him look like the world's most sophisticated rentboy.

"C'mon," he says, jerking his head at the passenger side. "Let's go for a ride."

Eames can never say no to that jacket, so he tosses his bag in the back seat. "I hope you're willing to drive me all the way to the Phoenix airport," he says, "because if I miss my flight out of Flagstaff you'll have to. Luckily my flight to Chicago isn't until tonight."

"Driving anyway," Arthur says with a shrug. "I hate those puddlejumper flights." He puts his sunglasses on and glances over. "If you don't mind losing the money you paid for the ticket, I could use the company."

And though Eames isn't all that fond of road trips, again, he can't say no to the jacket, especially not when it's got the sunglasses as backup. "Why not?"

He's not entirely surprised when Arthur drives to a cemetery. They follow the road to a newer-looking section, and Arthur stops. "You can wait here if you want," he says, very casually, so Eames follows him until he kneels down by a fresh grave, then hangs back to give him some privacy. Arthur talks softly for a few minutes, then reaches into his pocket and pulls something out, putting it down by the flowers. He stands and dusts off his trousers, and his voice is rough when he says, "Let's go," over his shoulder as he heads for the car.

Eames is nothing if not curious. "Just a tick, have to tie my shoe." He knows Arthur won't buy it, and that if Arthur hadn't wanted him to see what he put on the grave, he wouldn't have done it while Eames could see. Still, one must keep up appearances.

It's a little piece of plastic, and on a closer look, he realizes it's a name tag:

**ELDER RYDER**  
  
THE CHURCH OF  
 **JESUS CHRIST**  
OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS  


"How long does it take you to tie your shoe?" Arthur calls, and Eames stands up. He feels like he ought to thank Arthur's dad or something, though he's not sure for what other than fathering him. Instead, he gives the headstone a little nod and walks to the car, leaping over the door into the passenger seat.

"Show off," Arthur mutters as he opens his own door, but he's smiling a little. When he's seated and the car is started, he says slowly, "We can still make the airport in time for your flight."

Eames smiles and shakes his head. "I'd rather go with you."

**Author's Note:**

> There may be some OOCness, you be the judge. Big thanks to Tez for Mormon-checking.


End file.
